PERSONAL INVESTING IS STILL BEST SS OPTION

The task facing 16 members of President Bush's Social Security commission is daunting. Leaving aside current headlines about declining budget surpluses and the sagging economy, there is agreement the future of Social Security must be addressed.

Right now, revenue from Social Security taxes is running well ahead of benefit payments, accounting for virtually all of the projected surplus for this fiscal year. But those surpluses will be eaten up eventually. So the commission's task is to recommend ways to ensure the future viability of Social Security.

There are any number of options on the table, and none is particularly appetizing. Raising the retirement age for full benefits, means testing and even cuts in benefits are among the ideas receiving the most attention.

One suggestion, however, does have some appeal. The idea of allowing personal investment accounts has the most potential. This would permit workers to invest a portion of their Social Security taxes in the stock market. Other nations have had similar programs in place for several years with considerable success. The current sluggishness in the stock market has increased wariness about such a plan, but with the right safeguards it could still provide an opportunity for wage-earning Americans to significantly increase their retirement benefits.

Cutting benefits and means testing are the least palatable of the options. Under means testing, benefits would be determined on the basis of an individual's total income, which might come from other retirement sources and from earned income as Americans live longer and choose to work well beyond the time they are eligible for full Social Security benefits. The argument against means testing is that workers who contributed at the full rate to Social Security throughout their working years are entitled to full benefits at retirement age, whether or not they choose to stop working.

As for cutting benefits, even to suggest that future recipients would see smaller checks rather than annual cost-of-living adjustments is akin to school districts that warn they drop the marching band and the football team if voters don't improve tax increases. Anyone who makes this suggestion had better be prepared to follow through or risk losing all credibility.